visions of awakening space and time dogen and the lotus sutra may 2007

[...]... chapters 15 and 16 of the Lotus ¯ Sutra in Dogen s writings, the next two chapters consider some of the hermeneutic and methodological implications of the Lotus Sutra as it interfaces ¯ with Dogen Chapter 3 explores the responses to the sutra s chapters 15 and 16 by a selection of other prominent East Asian Buddhist figures 2 Hermeneutics and Discourse Styles in Studies of the ¯ Lotus Sutra and Dogen This... to the sutra story itself, I offer the following paraphrase of the entire ¯ ¯ narrative, which appears in chapters 15 and 16 of Kumarajıva’s translation of the Lotus Sutra, the standard version in East Asia.1 A group of bodhisattvas ´¯ have been visiting from a distant world system in order to hear Sakyamuni (the historical Buddha) preach the Lotus Sutra At the beginning of chapter 15, they ask the. .. take and be cured by the medicine only when brought to their senses by grief after hearing a false report that their father has passed away The Story’s Position in the Sutra Both doctrinally and in terms of literary structure, the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of the sutra are pivotal chapters They present central aspects of the Lotus Sutra teachings about the meaning of bodhisattva activity and awareness... Implications of the Story for Mahayana Praxis This complex story of the underground bodhisattvas and the Buddha’s inconceivable life span expresses the vastness and the immanence of the sacred in space as well as time and breaks open limited, conventional, linear perspectives of both space and time It bears a variety of practical and theoretical implications that were critical to the development of East... bodhisattva tradition and the purpose of its spiritual practice ¯ Dogen s Radical Worldview and Its Diverse Sources ¯ Dogen s perspectives on the key teachings in these Lotus Sutra chapters, and how he refers to them, help reveal and clarify his dynamic view of earth, space, ¯ and time Dogen s radical worldview is one of the most striking features of his ¯ ¯ ¯ teaching His view of time, especially from... Lotus Sutra story in chapters 15 and 16 to express his views of space, as well as of time ¯ and of the earth itself Broader awareness of Dogen s worldview and its implications may illuminate the possibilities for contemporary approaches to un¯ ¯ derstanding primary Mahayana practices and outlook and their shift that occurred in East Asia 12 visions of awakening space and time Before directly considering... express his worldview of earth, space, and time themselves as awakening agents in the ¯ bodhisattva liberative project I focus particularly on Dogen s citations of the pivotal story in chapters 15 and 16 of the sutra This story concerns the bodhisattvas emerging from the earth who will preserve and expound the Lotus teaching in the distant future, and the resulting revelation that the Buddha only appears... approaches over others, as will be discussed more fully in the section ‘ The Self-Reflexive as a Skillful Mode.’’ The purpose of Buddhism is liberation from the karmic cycle of suffering ¯ ¯ via awakening, and the goal of the Mahayana is the awakening of all beings In ¯ chapter 2 the Lotus Sutra states, in the line probably most often cited by Dogen, that the sole cause for a buddha’s appearing in the world... developed into the Huayan theory of the Fourfold Dharmadhatu (the four realms of reality, mentioned briefly in the previous chapter) These four are the realms of particulars, the universal, the mutual unobstructed interpenetration of the particular and the universal, and the mutual unobstructed interpenetration of the particular with the particular ¯ This Tathagata garbha theory poses a basic complex of hermeneutical... and the single great cause for buddhas appearing in the world: to lead suffering beings into the path to awakening On the other hand, the full realization of the inconceivable life span of Buddha, and thus his omnipresence in the subsequent fruit of practice phase of the sutra, can be seen as a significant inspiration for sudden or rapid awakening practice beyond stages of development The teaching of . y0 w0 h0" alt="" Visions of Awakening Space and Time This page intentionally left blank Visions of Awakening Space and Time Do ¯ gen and the Lotus Sutra taigen dan leighton 1 2007 3 Oxford University. translated the standard version of the Lotus Sutra used there. 2 Dillard visited the tomb of the Qin empe ror near Xi’an (formerly Chang’an) as the thousands of clay soldiers buried with the emperor who. nature of the earth and the practice relationship to this world; the manner in which this Lotus Sutra story app lies to later, ongoing practice; and the nature of the Buddha himself in the light of